


Yes, this is yet another Three Days fic. Sue me.

by dreamsanddeath



Series: Solangelo post BoO- Pre ToA [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bisexual Will Solace, M/M, Nico makes friends, Self-Indulgent, Southern Will Solace, There will be no mentions of the Not My Type incident, Three Days in the Infirmary (Percy Jackson), jason isn't an 8 year old fangirl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24302701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamsanddeath/pseuds/dreamsanddeath
Summary: "Where’s your sense of self preservation, Deathboy?”'It died along with my sister.'Nico didn’t vocalize that thought -too morbid- but he did kick out with his foot, aiming for Will’s shin. Unfortunately, his legs were too short dangling the way they were from the edge of the cot, so he settled for issuing a warning, instead. “I told you not to call me that.”
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Solangelo post BoO- Pre ToA [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735264
Comments: 11
Kudos: 129





	1. Day One: Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos are lovely, but I'd love to hear some feedback! Let me know if I should continue this. I know Three Days has been overdone, but I felt like beating the dead horse anyway.

All things considered, dying violently by infected werewolf lacerations was very low on Nico’s mental list of ways he might possibly kick the bucket. Up top? His lack of basic will to survive, followed closely by fading permanently into his own shadows, giant bronze jars, and journeys through literal Hell.

So, when the most annoying son of Apollo insisted that Nico’s current wounds should be further up on the list, it came as a happy little shock. He hadn’t noticed them, as the ongoing war had stolen his focus from the pain. Now that he wasn’t fighting, however…

Nico hid a wince as Will Solace dabbed some nasty smelling cream onto the deepest of the gouges, focusing on the mop of blonde, wavy hair right under his nose. He could smell the floral scent of Will’s shampoo. It was quite nice. And distracting.

"I can't _believe_ you didn't tell me about these earlier." Will huffed, "They're absolutely horrid, probably close to septic, even.” 

"You mean you couldn't feel it with those amazing healing powers of yours?" Nico asked sarcastically. "The way you talked, I figured you already knew everything that was wrong with me."

Will paused and looked up, narrowing his eyes. "I was a little distracted by the way you were _literally_ fixin' to evaporate at the time. Seriously," he went back to his work, muttering, "you were seconds away from nothingness. And now this. Where’s your sense of self preservation, Deathboy?”

 _It died along with my sister._ Nico didn’t vocalize that thought. Too morbid. But he did kick out with his foot, aiming for Will’s shin. Unfortunately, his legs were too short, dangling the way they were from the edge of the cot. He settled for issuing a warning, instead. “I told you not to call me that.” 

Will seemed entirely too unfazed by Nico's death glare. Really, the one time he wanted to be creepy and fearsome and it didn’t work? Disappointing.

Will was finished with the salve. He put the lid back on the jar and pushed himself back in his little rolling stool, towards the cabinets lining the wall. He rummaged around for a moment, rolling back to the cot with a new pair of gloves and medical grade scissors in hand. Those, he held up in the light, snipping the air in front of Nico's face experimentally. 

Nico leaned back out of reflex. 

“Relax, Casper, I’m only taking out the stitches. They’re aggravated and messy and it’s bugging me.”

Nico didn’t know who _Casper_ was, but after Deathboy, he figured it had something to do with his Underworld affiliations. He chose to let it go, watching with not a little apprehension as Will replaced his gloves and reached for Nico’s arm. He tried not to flinch, but Will noticed anyway when his body tensed.

“It won’t hurt. The cream I just used on you has a numbing agent.” Will assured him, completely misunderstanding the issue, but his talking gave Nico the time he needed to prepare for the sensation of being touched. 

While Will went to work on his arm, Nico looked around, trying to ignore the way Will’s fingers on his skin sent chills down his spine. A privacy curtain was the only thing separating this section from the rest of the infirmary. He could see figures moving through the thin fabric of the curtain, hear murmured conversations and quiet moans of the other afflicted campers throughout the room. None of them were close to death (Nico had sent out feelers when he’d first came in, checking for signs of fading life, and found none) All thanks to Will, Nico figured, along with his siblings and a few other volunteers. 

Will was humming a tune he didn’t recognize, soft and low yet completely off key. Nico didn’t have to know what the song was to notice that. Was he doing it on purpose, just to be annoying? “I thought Apollo’s children were supposed to be blessed with the gift of musical talent.” 

“Not me. I’m just a healer,” Will said pleasantly, but something in the way he seemed to suddenly pay more attention to his work told Nico it upset Will more than he wanted to let on. 

“A good one,” Nico grunted, apologetic. He hadn’t meant to poke at Will’s insecurities. “Every kid in here owes you their life.” 

Will smiled, a glint entering his eyes as he met Nico’s gaze. He cocked his head to the side. “Including you?” 

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Nico grumbled, turning away to hide the rising heat in his cheeks. Give the guy one tiny compliment and what does Nico get? More teasing. He was glad that his words had seemed to cheer Will up, however, though he’d never admit it. “Are you nearly done?” 

“Yep,” Will answered, popping his lips on the ‘p', “I’ve just gotta clean it out and that’s it.” 

True to his word, Will put down the scissors a moment later. Off of the trey table at his side, he grabbed another jar of cream, explaining while he started rubbing it over the wounds. “This is gonna protect ‘em from further infection, because I’m not re-doing the stitches. If they start bleeding again I will, but for now we’ll let ‘em air out some. They’re mostly closed up, anyway. All done,” He released Nico’s bicep with a pat. 

“Now,” Will grinned. “Other arm.” 

“Great.” Nico groaned. 

This was going to be a long three days.


	2. Day one: Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nico thinks his food is poisoned, has a nightmare, and accidentally gives his doctor a bloody nose.

Will had gone to see other patients not long after tending his wounds, leaving Nico with stern orders to stay in bed—which wasn’t difficult, as Nico’s lack of sleep the previous night seemed to catch up to him all of a sudden. He dozed on and off for the next few hours, not able to fall fully into sleep, until around noon when some of the other healers started passing out lunch to those who weren’t yet well enough to leave the infirmary. 

  
Nico sat up abruptly when his privacy curtain was pulled aside, a bit startled at the suddenness of the sound it made. A girl around Nico’s age with bright green highlights dyed into the tips of her ginger hair threw him a brown paper bag. 

  
Nico caught it, and the girl—Kayla, one of Will’s sisters, he recalled as his memory pushed through the fog of drowsiness—said, “Everyone’s getting sandwiches today. I hope you like ham and cheese.” 

He didn’t. But what Nico said was, “I’m not picky.” 

He reached inside the bag and pulled out a sandwich wrapped in cellophane and a bottle of water. Nico unwrapped the food and raised it to his mouth, but something about the way Kayla was watching him made him pause without biting into it. He looked up at her to find an oddly intent expression on her face. It made Nico anxious. 

Will may not have a problem with a son of Hades being in the infirmary, but Nico wasn’t too sure about his siblings. Maybe they were trying to prematurely get rid of him by poisoning him. He glanced at the sandwich suspiciously. It seemed ordinary enough, but Nico couldn’t be too sure of anything these days. “Did anyone put something in this?” 

Kayla raised her eyebrows, looking startled by the question. “Like what?” 

“Oh, I don’t know, something deadly?” 

She thought about it for a moment. “The cheese might be expired, I guess. But that’d only give you a stomach ache.” Kayla shrugged. “Are you lactose intolerant?” 

“No.” 

“You’re good, then. Why’d you ask me that?” 

Nico stared at her, uncomfortable. “You’ve been watching me like a hawk. It’s weird.” 

“Oh, sorry,” she said sheepishly, reaching up to rub the back of her neck. “I was just making sure you actually eat. You’re extremely underweight, Will said we should keep an eye on you.” 

Ah. Nico looked down at himself, at the way his shirt was too baggy and hanging off his frame, at his belt, where he’d had to make a new hole in the strip in order to tighten it so it pants wouldn’t fall off. Nico couldn’t exactly fault Will’s assessment, but it still irked his nerves. 

“I’m not this skeletal on purpose.” He snapped, scowling, less Kayla thought any different. “So you can tell Will that I don’t need to be monitored.” 

“Sorry! Sorry, don’t get mad.”

“I’m not. It’s just,” Nico sighed, reigning in his emotions. He set his sandwich in his lap, rubbing his temples. Why was he so bad at talking to people normally? He picked at the bread for something to do, peeling off the crust. “It just sucks being reminded what I look like.” 

He’d always been a slender person, but lately Nico’s body resembled those of the creatures he pulled from the ground. 

That first night after he’d been rescued from the jar, (gods, that was barely a month ago!) Nico's mind was in shambles, reeling from the shock of Percy and Annabeth's fall into Tar—that place, still reliving his own, but even then he’d noticed. 

Bones sticking out in places they weren’t supposed to, sharp and prominent. Concave stomach. Arms and legs so thin he could’ve wrapped his hands around them, touching thumbs to middle fingertips all the way from top to bottom. He’d stared and stared until the steam from the hot shower fogged up the glass, frightened by his own reflection. 

Nico had been eating better since then, but he knew he had a long way to go before he no longer flinched when he saw himself in the mirror. 

Kayla was looking at him with pity. He regretted ever saying anything. Nico picked up the sandwich and took an angry bite, staring at the wall so he wouldn’t have to see her expression. 

“I’ll tell Will you’re eating well.” She said, and left the room without waiting for a reply. 

Someone else came back later to collect Nico’s trash, but he didn’t speak to them, leaning back in the bed with closed eyes. 

*********

Dozing off again was a bad decision. The conversation with Kayla had brought up memories that left Nico’s mind raw and open to nightmares.   
He was thrown back into the jar.

_no one is coming for you you’re going to die here_

Consciousness was a curse in his confinement. It tormented him with awareness of where he was and that he was helpless. Nico groped blindly for another pomegranate seed. He needed to go back into a trance; his panicked breathing would only hasten his inevitable suffocation. Except his fingers closed on empty air. 

_nonononono i had one more where is it i need it_

“Nico, wake up! Nico!” 

Strong hands gripped his shoulders and pulled him up and out of the jar. Nico blinked. He was suddenly back in the infirmary, sweating and gasping for air, bent over his crossed legs. He stayed like that for a while until he felt he could pull himself together, and when he looked up, Will Solace was standing by the bed, bleeding from his nose.

Nico glanced around, noting the sheets had been kicked off the bed. They lie in a tangled heap on the floor. He must have been thrashing. 

He gazed at Will's bloody nose and winced. It could’ve been worse. 

“You’ve got a mean right hook.” Will told him, wiping the blood away with apparent nonchalance. His hands were shaking, though, which made it clear to Nico that he was just as perturbed by what took place. 

“Sorry.” 

“Don’t be. Accidents happen.” Silence. A heartbeat later: “Wanna talk about it?” 

“No.” 

“Okay,” Will said, surprisingly not pressing the issue. Perhaps he was too tired at the moment to be annoying. He’d told Nico earlier that he’d been stuck in the infirmary for two days, already, and had just another several hours working. 

Nico studied him. There were bags under Will's eyes to rival his own. He didn’t know when, or if, the son of Apollo had taken a break today. “What time is it?” 

Will blinked. “It’s almost seven o'clock. Why?” 

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the campfire?” 

“Trying to get rid of me so soon?” Will asked. 

“As if that’d be possible. No,” Nico rolled his eyes. “I was just wondering why you’re such a hypocrite.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“You drag me in here under orders to rest and here you are, working yourself stupid.” Nico explained, “You’ve been on your feet for over forty-eight hours, if my math is correct. I mean, with my fourth-grade education it could be wrong, but I don’t think it is. That can’t be healthy.”

Will’s mouth gaped like a fish. 

Someone snickered. Apparently, Nico had been overheard. With his privacy curtain pulled back, he could see the boy residing in the next bed over. Nico recognized him as Cecil Markowitz, the kid who’d messed around with the Romans’ catapults. He wore a sling for broken collar bones over one shoulder and had a bandage around his head wound, but was grinning from ear to ear. 

“Shut up, Cecil.”

“Sorry, Will, but he’s right.” Cecil looked at Nico. “Will’s more stubborn than anyone I know, and I’m a Hermes kid, so that’s saying something. Me and Lou nearly had to drag him out of here during that virus outbreak last year.” 

“I wasn’t that bad!” Will protested. 

“You literally fell asleep standing up while holding a bottle of cold medicine. You poured it all over poor Malcolm’s face.” 

Nico snorted. “Sounds about right.”

Will glared at Cecil. “Stop turning my patients against me.” 

“I’m _already_ against you.” Nico pointed out, earning himself another laugh from Cecil. He felt a strange giddiness in making someone laugh. Not many people found humor in Nico’s words. Even if he’d intended them to be—which wasn’t often, but still.   
Also, ganging up on Will was fun. He liked watching the son of Apollo squirm. Served him right, for calling Nico all those nicknames. 

“You’re both assholes.” Will muttered.

Cecil shot back, “I know you are but what am I?”

“ _Injured_ , in _my_ infirmary. So I’d be careful with what I said if I was you.” 

Cecil gasped. “Are you threatening a patient?” He put his free hand over his heart, playfully acting shocked. “I thought we were _friends_.” 

“I hate you.” Will said, but there was no heat in his words. 

“And you,” He looked at Nico, pursing his lips, “have no room to talk. It wasn’t me who nearly passed out twice on the battlefield the other day. And since I’m the one with the most medical knowledge here, only I get a say in who needs rest or who doesn’t. And _I_ most definitely---"

_“---do,”_ Nico said, finishing his sentence for him. 

Will sighed, defeated, and slumped into the stool by Nico’s bed. "Fine." 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm @biwillsolace on Tumblr. I just made one :)


End file.
